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New Penn Station (Moynihan Station)

Daily News...

New plan in works for Penn Station

By ERIC HERMAN

Penn Station is getting a new developer.

The state agency overseeing the conversion of the main post office will seek a firm to transform more than half the building into a new rail facility as early as this summer, the agency's chairman said.

The move could shrink the role of previously selected developers, including the Staubach Company.

"They will not have the same kinds of long-term agreements and control that they had before," Charles Gargano, chairman of the Empire State Development Corp., told the Daily News.

Two years ago, the state tapped Staubach and Fraport AG to run the Penn Station project, turning the Farley Post Office at Eighth Avenue between W. 31st and W. 33rd streets into a state-of-the-art transit hub, with space for shopping.

Roger Staubach, a former football star and supporter of President Bush, founded the company that bears his name.

Officials had said the station would be done by 2004. But it got bogged down in negotiations between the state and the U.S. Postal Service over control of the building.

Under a tentative deal reached last year, the state agreed to buy Farley for $230 million. It also expanded the commercial space to be developed from 100,000 to 700,000 square feet.

With the project larger, the state will look for a new company to build and run 60% of it, with Staubach keeping 40%.

Gargano said a new bidding would begin late this summer, when the post office sale is due to be completed. Preliminary construction could also begin then, and would take four years.

Meanwhile, state officials are set to meet with Staubach executives next week to renegotiate their agreement.

"We're relatively convinced that we're going to have a major role in the project going forward, and that role may change," said Staubach executive Peter Larkin.

New Penn Station

What's going to be the deal with the existing Penn Station? *Is the city going to modernize/renovate the existing part, along with the expansion into the Farley Building, or is the city going to wait another 20 years to take care of that?

New Penn Station

People who have interest in seeing New York get a train terminal that does not resemble a warren for rats &amp; other small rodents will read today's Daily News article with a groan.

It was eleven years ago a determined Senator Moynihan said it was time to rebuild Penn Station. *It's 2003...the Post Office still hasn't vacated...a developer still isn't selected...the money still isn't there.

The number mentioned to convert the Farley Post Office is "four years." *Dream on: if there is so much as a steam shovel in the neighborhood come 2007 you can consider that a small sign of progress. *

New Penn Station

The idea from a decade ago was to keep the rat-hole known as Penn Station in use for both the LIRR and NJ Transit commuters. *The new terminal would be dedicated solely to Amtrak.

But a lot can change in ten years. *Just ask the pharmaceutical companies: anti-depressants such as Zoloft and Prozac are all the rage; there's no question either of those could help Elmo get his groove back. *

New Penn Station

NJ Transist platforms don't all extend past 8th ave, same with some LIRR platforms. *Who uses what in Penn Station is a never-ending political mess, as you have two state agencies and a federal egency vying for turf in a station designed for a single railraod. *The three railroads share tracks 5-16. *1-4 are exclusively NJ Transit and 17-21 are exclusively LIRR. *Check it:

I think the Farley project is an monumentally stupid and expensive half-measure, but I'll save that argument for later.

New Penn Station

Quote: from JD on 8:29 pm on Mar. 20, 2003

It was eleven years ago a determined Senator Moynihan said it was time to rebuild Penn Station. *It's 2003...the Post Office still hasn't vacated...a developer still isn't selected...the money still isn't there.

The money has been there for a while now. *The Farley just isn't a vacant building, its still in use by the Post Office and an agreement had to be made on use of space.

As far as who will use the "new" station, both the current and new stations will be considered "Penn Station". *NJ Transit doesn't actually have any platforms at Penn Station, it uses space occupied by Amtrak, and Amtrak always has the right of way. *That's one reason why NJ Transit doesn't have regular track assignments like some LIRR trains which dominate Penn Station.

But there was recently an unused space opened to give NJ Transit riders a seperate ticketing concourse from Amtrak (7th Ave) with access to the tracks from there. *

New Penn Station

Would it be more expensive to dismantle the current Penn Station and then erect a more aesthetically pleasing structure in its place, while preserving the tracks and platforms and whatnot? *I mean, that's what they did with the original Penn Station, sans the replacement with a prettier building.